World Strongest Rearguard – Chapter 18

Translator: pinky onee-sama    Editor: anirhapsodist

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Provisional Party

“–Hit it!”

◆ Activity Log ◆

 Arihito’s ‘Blaze Shot’ activated → ‘Dokuyaribachi’ – <Hit>
‘Dokuyaribachi’ in Burning Status

“–Tch!”

The distance was too far. The damage was weak. I can’t stop that bee unless it takes another attack.

“……..!”

The bee over Theresa’s left side became aggressive, but it was immediately intercepted with her short sword.

◆ Activity Log ◆

 Arihito’s ‘Support Defense 1’ activated → Theresa
Dokuyaribachi attacks Theresa : <Miss>
Theresa attacks Dokuyaribachi : <Hit> – Support Damage 10
1 Dokuyaribachi defeated

‘Support Defense’ is constantly negating those poison needles, so we won’t need to worry much about getting poisoned. The last surviving bee that has been burning in mid-air situated near Theresa’s right flank began its attack.

“Tch…!”

(This is the glaring weakness of a swordsman… Their attacks can’t reach enemies who are high in mid-air. If that’s the case, then..!)

 “Igarashi-san!”

“Understood! Take this!”

I’m not the only one who can do ranged attacks. Valkyries too can draw swords and wield magic.

◆ Activity Log ◆

 Kyouka’s ‘Thunderbolt’ activated → ‘Dokuyaribachi’ – <Hit>
1 ‘Dokuyaribachi’ defeated

Igarashi-san’s skill struck the already weakened burning bee. Sparks flew as it fell to the ground, missing its chance to fire its toxic needle towards Suzuna.

(We managed to pull it off… Definitely not for solos… This is too much…)

Elysha sheathed her sword and ran towards Suzuna. She remained clueless about who was at fault and for a short moment, she was unable to speak.

Igarashi-san and Theresa can wait. I need to extend some help to Suzuna so she can compose herself.

“Are you okay? Were you injured?”

“I’m fine. Thank you… But I think I’ve been dragging you down.”

“No… That’s not true. You’ve accompanied me this far, Suzuna. You’ve worked so hard to even take down watadama by yourself.”

Rival previously mentioned that if there was a large gap between levels, the acquisition of experience value would drop. ‘Lesser experience acquisition’ was mentioned, but it’s safe to assume that it’s not a zero value.

Hence, there is only one way to speed up Suzuna’s acquisition of experience.

“I see… Your party is disbanded. Elysha lures the enemy, and it is up to Suzuna to deal the final blow.”

“Y…yes. There were a lot of seekers hunting watadama, so it was difficult for us to find prey.”

“I… I don’t have that much time to spend here. I have to rush Suzuna to level 8 and return… ”

“You’re going back…? Correct me if I’m wrong, but are you going back to the ‘White Night Brigade’?”

Elysha looks back at me with leering eyes… How did I know? –I heard it… But I won’t be mentioning details of it.

“… I will not return to that brigade. They abandoned my companions. My best friend is waiting at the depths of that labyrinth. If I leave her alone, she will become a demi-human with no emotions.”

“Do you think that demons take seekers as captives? Can’t we just ask the guild or other parties for help?”

“You’ll learn about it soon enough. While you live as a seeker, you’ll be doing your everything to survive by yourself. There’s nothing wrong about it…  Nobody even wants to die exploring. Some only continue to explore because they want the privileges given to the famed and renowned.”

Suzuna has not heard about her circumstances yet, but this time, she listened with a calm expression.

She was so scared when the bee aimed for her, but she just wouldn’t want to show it to Elysha. Her will to hunt and search for something in the labyrinth lit noticeably in her eyes.

“Sorry, I saw a large demon pig a while ago, but my feet petrified. I should have assisted in using my bow.”

Speaking of shrine maidens… I don’t know why, but this shrine maiden carries demon-warding arrow charms which she actually uses with a bow. She also wore a red skirt over white clothes, and her long black hair was bound with a ribbon. A Japanese-style shrine maiden though her clothing is of a different world.

“By the way, I saw you enter the labyrinth a while ago, but what happened to the other one?”

After my question, the expressions of the two turned dim. Troublesome things have happened, apparently.

“She failed to open the treasure chest and…”

“That girl… Misaki seems to have chosen a job called ‘Gambler’. She opened the box that a demon dropped, claiming that she had this extraordinary luck, but she suddenly disappeared.”

“Treasure chest…? We’ve hunted demons ourselves, but nothing appeared. Is there such a thing?”

Just as what Igarashi-san had mentioned, we found item drops, but we did not find anything resembling a treasure chest.

“The frequency of treasure chests appearing in a floor is quite limited, although strong monsters tend to drop them. There are times that even if you have to defeat one-hundred demons like watadama or dokuyaribachi, they just wouldn’ t appear. I think that Misaki’s luck is good, but… If only I could have told her that a maybe it was booby-trapped and a job like a thief can only remove traps…”

Elysha seems to have an abundant experience as a seeker, but it appears that she’s having a difficult time leading beginner seekers that well.

“Where will she transfer if she got caught up in a trap?”

“It’s an ‘Area Teleport’ trap, so she’s somewhere within this floor. We have to find her quickly so that we can regroup.”

“Yes, that’s right… Are we going to look after these kids, Atobe-kun?”

“I wish we could do that, but… Elysha, are there any other parties on this floor? I would like to ask for their help.”

It will take quite a time if we go back and ask assistance from Rival. In times like these, even if her contribution decreases, I wish that Misaki was holding on to a ‘Scroll of Return’.

If a demon attacks her and she fails to escape, she’ll meet her end.  For now, it’s up to her skills as a level 1 ‘Gambler’. Watadama attacks can be quite fierce for a level 1 seeker. We can only pray for her safety and hope that she never encounters a Fanged Orc.

“…This could be my imagination, but as soon as I came here, I felt like someone has been watching me. The other party must have been barely keeping up to observe.”

“Huh? Is there someone monitoring people coming to the second floor? Such a thing… for what purpose…?”

As Igarashi-san aired her doubts while I recounted the events in the tavern during yesterday’s dinner.

Those three men. They knew that Elysha is in the eighth-district and they seem to be up to no good.

“… I think it will be difficult to convince the other parties’ to cooperate with us. It’s also difficult dealing with a group of demons just by ourselves. Let’s just have a provisional party, for now, Elysha.”

She’s level 8. Compared to her, we are seekers who are simply out of heaven’s reach.

She was desperately trying to raise a rearguard because the group that she was previously in abandoned her most important friend. She’s trying to organize a new party in order to help that friend of hers.

They still have a long way to go. If Suzuna comes to know more of Elysha’s circumstances, it’s unlikely that she will leave her party. However, the risk of receiving a counter-attack from Elysha’s blindside will never rescind as long as she continues on using demons as bait.

“We can’t say that just yet, and Suzuna will be prone to counter-attacks if you force to gain experience from the poisonous bees. Their poison needles, even watadama can still be considered as a threat. So if possible, Suzuna should cooperate with people of the same level.”

“What..!? Are you telling me that I’m not qualified to work with Suzuna! Is that it?”

“It’s not like that. What I am trying to say is that we would like to align ourselves towards your objectives, but as much as possible, please let Suzuna increase her experience with us. Elysha, we will have you accompany our party in solo for the meantime until our levels match. You’ll be able to party with us by then.”

“I… I understand. In order to help my best friend and no matter what my circumstances are, I just can’t ignore a person offering his goodwill. Moreover, I am also worried about Suzuna, who was reincarnated just recently.”

“My goodness… both of you…”

Tears gathered on Suzuna’s eyes, prompting her to suppress her emotions and cover them with her gloves. Elysha seems to be at a loss for words,  so she looks to my face, once more.

“I really had this hunch that you were a capable rearguard, but I sure neglected it. If we could just cooperate with you, then I may be able to safely increase Suzuna’s level. That’s what I have been thinking and I’ve completely ignored that possibility.”

“I do not wish to attract that much attention because of my job, so I am asking you as a companion to please keep it a secret. Are there any problems with you right now as a vanguard? Anything else excluding the shortcomings of defending the rearguard?”

“If I don’t have a party, then there won’t be any problems. I can move from a safer distance. If I tell you to escape, leave. That’s all I’m asking. Suzuna, I gave you a “Scroll of Return”, be sure to use it.”

Elysha extended her right hand towards me after expressing herself. I gave her a handshake, and then she reciprocated with a smile on her face.

“I’m looking forward to working with you, Arihito-san. Oh, it takes time to remove my gloves, so please excuse my rudeness.”

“I’m looking forward to working with you as well.”

“You can count on me as your strength. Rest assured, I’ll reward you generously for cooperating with me.  I’ll follow your instructions and give it everything I’ve got, even if I’m not in your party. If you lack living expenses, please tell me as well.”

“For now, it’s okay. And I wouldn’t want myself to be branded as a gigolo.”

Elysha heartily laughs. This might be her most natural expression yet. I was worried that she wouldn’t be able to maintain a good mental state when worrying so much. She’s tough but appears to be on edge at all times. –I’m glad I met you here with Suzuna.

Elysha shakes her hands with Igarashi-san and Theresa as well.

–Suzuna timidly came in front of me.

“A… Arihito-san, please take good care of me. Once again, my name is Shiromiya, Suzuna (白宮珠洲菜).  I look forward to working with you. .“

“Atobe, Arihito (後部有人). This is Igarashi, Kyouka-san (五十嵐鏡花). Here is Theresa, the lizardfolk.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am delighted that the number of my companions have increased.”

“………”

When Igarashi-san smiled, Suzuna smiles back as if she was relieved from all of her worries. Theresa’s handshake was a little bit powerful, so it would take a little time getting used to, but nevertheless, Suzuna shook her hands and greeted her dutifully.

◆ Party ◆

1: Arihito: * ◆ $ □ – Level 2
2: Kyouka : Valkyrie – Level 1
3: Suzuna : Shrine Maiden – Level 1
4: Theresa : Rogue – Level 3(Mercenary)
Guest 1: Elysha